Chapter 042

Lu Jianxing and Qiao Man did not undergo a second paternity test, but the results for Shao Jingqiu and Xiao Xia came back quickly.

The DNA test confirmed that the two were indeed biological mother and daughter.

The news that the unassuming little assistant by the Movie Queen’s side was actually her long-lost daughter stunned everyone, except for Qiao Man.

Many people in the industry knew that Shao Jingqiu had lost a daughter. Over the years, she had never given up the search, but after finding nothing for so long, most people assumed the child would never be found. Who could have guessed that things would take such a dramatic turn? And that the daughter was none other than that plain, ordinary little assistant?

For a moment, many people’s minds raced as they tried to remember if they had ever made things difficult for her on set. Fortunately, as Shao Jingqiu’s assistant, people generally treated Xiao Xia with courtesy, and few had ever gone out of their way to trouble her.

It was all simply too coincidental!

“It was just me and my grandmother at home. I rarely heard her talk about my parents. I only knew that by the time I was old enough to remember things, they were already gone. My grandmother never told me that she had actually picked me up and brought me home.”

In a corner of the film set, the three of them sat side by side.

Even though she had found her biological mother, Xiao Xia continued to work as Shao Jingqiu’s assistant.

“My grandmother passed away after I got into university, so I have no way of asking her about what happened back then.”

Xiao Xia paused, then whispered, “Ms. Shao… she’s so beautiful, so elegant. How could I be her daughter? Could there be some kind of mistake?”

“The DNA results are out, and even Xiao Man said so. How could there be a mistake?” Both science and metaphysics had verified the truth; there was absolutely no possibility of an error. Maomao said, “Anyone else would be over the moon to find their biological mother, especially when she’s a Movie Queen!”

Xiao Xia said, “It all feels like a dream…”

“Do you not want to acknowledge Ms. Shao?”

Xiao Xia shook her head quickly. “No, I do.”

She only ever had her grandmother, and then her grandmother passed away, leaving her with no relatives at all. As a child, the other kids in the village had parents while she didn’t. Every time she saw other children being held by their parents, she would hide her envy. Every year, when she received clothes and supplies from the kind person who sponsored her, the young Xiao Xia would secretly call that woman “Mom” in her heart while writing thank-you letters, though she never dared to write the word on paper. Who could have known that the person she had admired and looked up to her whole life was actually her mother?

She was simply too happy, constantly fearing she was in a dream, wondering how such a stroke of luck could have fallen upon her.

Otherwise, why would it be her?

“Even before she found you, she just happened to sponsor you, giving you the chance to leave the mountains.” Maomao said with an air of importance, “To use Xiao Man’s words, this shows that the two of you share a profound destiny!”

Xiao Xia’s eyes sparkled. “Really?”

“Of course!” Maomao looked down and asked, “Baby, isn’t that right?”

“Mm!”

Qiao Man looked up to give a brief response before lowering his head again to continue practicing his characters.

When his small hand held a brush to draw talismans, every stroke was as neat as if it had been printed. However, when he used a pencil to write large characters, he couldn’t seem to control the direction of the strokes at all. Each character was large and crooked, sprawling far outside the grid lines.

After writing a few lines, he grew a bit frustrated. The characters under his pencil began to take on a life of their own, wandering off the path.

Maomao reminded him, “Baby, you wrote the last few wrong.”

Qiao Man: “…”

Qiao Man let out a sigh, forced to pick up his eraser and start over.

If only studying were as simple as fortune-telling.

After filling two whole pages with characters, Director Yang called out “Cut” over on the set, signaling the end of the shoot. The two assistants ran over to deliver water, and Qiao Man’s study session came to a halt. He dropped his pencil immediately to slack off, not wanting to waste a single second.

Studying was nowhere near as interesting as watching cartoons.

He pulled his tablet out of his backpack and had just opened his favorite animation when Director Yang wandered over.

“Master Xiao Man.” Director Yang practicedly handed over a ten-yuan bill, pointed toward a male actor off to the side, and whispered, “Could you take a look for me? Is that guy okay? No criminal record, no moral issues?”

Qiao Man looked up, glanced over, and tucked the ten yuan into his bag. “He’s fine.”

“Good, good. As long as he’s fine.”

Director Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

That actor was a last-minute replacement for the one who had been hauled away for tax evasion.

Following a tip-off, the tax department had investigated and found that the previous actor had indeed been evading taxes. He was quickly blacklisted, and the scenes he had already filmed had to be scrapped. Director Yang had used his connections to find an actor with an open schedule to step in, ensuring the production schedule wasn’t delayed. Even so, the previously filmed portions needed to be reshot.

Of course, his connections had come through in more than one area; there were several gaps in the crew that needed filling. Fortunately, their production was famous, so they quickly found new staff. They even borrowed two people from Director Liu’s neighboring set, allowing them to resume normal filming by the very next day.

If he had known his ten yuan would be this effective, he would have spent it much sooner!

However, he had only spent a few ten-yuan bills. Was that too little? How should he show his gratitude? Director Yang pondered this as he wandered off again.

Before long, Xiao Xia came running over carrying several large bags.

“Xiao Man, these are all for you.”

Qiao Man looked up from his cartoon with lingering reluctance. “What is it?”

“Some clothes, toys, and snacks.” Xiao Xia opened the bags to reveal a wide variety of items, all from high-end brands. She said, “They’re from Ms. Shao… from my mother.”

The child had helped her find her biological daughter without even accepting ten yuan. Shao Jingqiu was deeply grateful from the bottom of her heart, and like Director Yang, she hadn’t known how best to express her thanks.

But how could mere material goods ever be enough to express their gratitude? As it happened, Master Xiao Man lacked for nothing and had no need for favors. Even if they wanted to repay him, they had no way to start. Left with no other choice, they decided to extend their affection for the Master to his son, treating Lu Jianxing with extra care.

And so, Lu Jianxing once again experienced the sensation of being carried to success by his own child.

Take Director Yang, for instance.

Lu Jianxing played a supporting male role in the drama, so his screen time was naturally less than that of the leads. As a responsible director, Yang couldn’t just arbitrarily add scenes for him, but he could certainly find other ways to help! As the director, he was the master of the lens. Whenever the camera was on Lu Jianxing, he would adjust the lighting and find the perfect angles to ensure Lu Jianxing looked his absolute best on screen.

One shouldn’t underestimate these details. When the drama eventually aired, an actor’s appearance on screen would directly impact their popularity. The better they looked, the more fans they would attract.

Then there was Shao Jingqiu.

She was an award-winning actress who had earned international acclaim. With decades in the industry, she had filmed countless works and won a literal basketful of awards. Her acting skills were top-tier, and her experience was vast. Now, whenever she had a free moment, she would give Lu Jianxing pointers. She taught him how to mobilize his inner emotions, find deeper layers of feeling, dig into his character, and deliver a performance that truly resonated with the character’s heart.

Countless people would have begged for the chance to be mentored by an actress of her caliber. With her guidance, Lu Jianxing’s progress was meteoric, and his acting skills improved by leaps and bounds.

And then there was Officer Xiao Chen.

Officer Xiao Chen had come to deliver reward money to Qiao Man!

With one phone call from Officer Xiao Chen, Qiao Man was back at the police station.

Regarding the nest of criminals they had rounded up recently, the minor offenders were quickly processed as their crimes were verified, and they received their punishments. As for the major cases—such as the suspect involved in fourteen murders—the police had quickly found key evidence based on the clues Qiao Man provided. They had successfully apprehended the killer who had been a fugitive for twenty-three years, finally closing a cold case from decades ago.

The former cases were small but numerous, while the latter involved only one person but carried immense weight.

The reports filed by Qiao Man alone had earned Officer Xiao Chen and his colleagues a significant amount of merit, and they had also earned Qiao Man a substantial sum in reward money.

Qiao Man went to collect his reward accompanied by Lu Jianxing.

He had specifically changed into his best outfit. Holding Lu Jianxing’s hand, he walked into the police station with his head held high and a proud stride. He accepted the reward for providing clues on a major criminal suspect from Officer Lin, along with an honorary certificate.

Maomao clapped until his hands were red. Officer Xiao Chen and his colleagues applauded enthusiastically. Qiao Man held his reward money in one hand and his certificate in the other, his chubby little face beaming with pride.

When the applause died down, he blinked and took the initiative to ask, “Aren’t we taking a photo?”

“A photo?”

To protect informants, they usually didn’t reveal their identities, especially when the informant was a five-year-old child.

Officer Xiao Chen and the others looked at each other in hesitation.

Maomao raised his hand to volunteer. “I’ll do it! I’m great at taking photos.”

Holding his certificate, Qiao Man was surrounded by everyone in the center. Maomao stepped back quite a bit to ensure he could get a full-body shot of the small child nestled in the middle of the group. Just as he was about to press the shutter, the boy suddenly raised a hand, signaling for a pause.

“Xingxing,” Qiao Man beckoned to Lu Jianxing, who was watching from the sidelines. “Come over here.”

Lu Jianxing had no choice but to walk over and stand beside him. A soft, chubby little hand was thrust into his palm. Qiao Man showed off a brilliant row of little white teeth, dragging his family’s Xingxing into an honorary group photo.

Just as they finished, another officer entered the room carrying a fresh honorary certificate.

“I heard Qiao Man was here,” the officer said, looking delighted. “Perfect timing! Great news! The tomb-robbing gang he gave us clues about has been caught!”

“It’s all thanks to our little friend Qiao Man. He provided us with many vital clues that allowed us to capture those criminals so smoothly.”

Qiao Man took the new reward and certificate. His two small hands could barely hold everything. He said happily, “You’re welcome!”

Then, holding Lu Jianxing’s hand, he posed for yet another photo as a helpful member of the public.

…

Consequently, when netizens opened their social media platforms to browse that day, they discovered several new trending topics.

#Twenty-Three-Year-Old Serial Murder Case Solved#

#Police Apprehend Major Tomb-Robbing Gang#

#Shao Jingqiu Finds Long-Lost Biological Daughter#

The three trending topics seemed completely unrelated, but each one was incredibly eye-catching.

When people clicked on them…

Wait? Why were all three tagging the same person?

Thinking they had misread, netizens rubbed their eyes and clicked on the first trending topic again.

The police bulletin was the standard white text on a blue background¹, and it read: “…Following a report by a helpful citizen, Mr. Qiao (Male, 5 years old)…”

Netizens: ?

The second trending topic.

A group photo. In a row of adults, there was a dip in the center where a short child stood surrounded by everyone, with a certain glamorous big star standing beside him as a supporting figure.

Netizens: ??

The third trending topic.

[@Shao Jingqiu V: My thanks to @Lu Jianxing V’s baby, Xiao Man… (Attached photos *9)]

Netizens: ???

Was Weibo feeding them hallucinogenic mushrooms??

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Translator’s Notes

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1. white text on a blue background: Refers to the standard visual format of official police announcements (jingfang tongbao) on Chinese social media. These ‘blue background’ notices are recognized by netizens as formal, verified statements from public security bureaus. ↩